Vantage Point
A weekly reckoning with the decline of clear thinking, in our lives, our work, and our world. Hosted by veteran journalist Eli Amdur.
“We’re not political, just critical.”
One commentary. Four segments. Every episode.
Vantage Point follows a rhythm built to sharpen how you think, not just what you know.
Commentary
One deep, original essay each episode.
Eli’s Aphorisms
Short, pithy truths from a half-century career.
From Great Minds
Einstein, Bohr, Twain, and more.
What If?
A provocation to carry into your week.
It’s here
Episode 24 is out now. Press play below.
Episodes
Episodes laying out the vision: what critical thinking is, where it went, and how to get it back.
The Critical Decline of Critical Thinking
What it is, where it went, and the 10 forms.
Listen →How the Ancient Greeks Educated Me
A 1950s schooling and a Greek ideal.
Listen →Dialogue Deficiency
The world’s most insidious disease.
Listen →Alliances Are More Important Than Ever
From the Hanseatic League to BRICS.
Listen →Copernicus
The original critical thinker.
Listen →Jevons Paradox
Why efficiency makes us use more.
Listen →If You Want to Be a Writer, Start Writing
The only way in.
Listen →Never Stop Writing
Ten practices to develop the gift.
Listen →Becoming Great Is a Decision
Sandy Koufax and the choice to be great.
Listen →Don’t Expect to Be Spoon-Fed
Why critical thinking resists instructions.
Listen →The Power of the Positive Word
How word choice decided a vote and a moon landing.
Listen →Will You Recognize the Next Great Idea?
Why the best ideas rarely come from where you’d expect.
Listen →Steal Eleven Days From People and Watch What Happens
The 1752 calendar riot, and what it taught Ben Franklin about keeping a cool head.
Listen →Where Do Ideas Come From?
Thoughts vs. ideas, and where the rare ones come from.
Listen →Hire the Liberal Arts Kid
Making the case for hiring outside the pattern.
Listen →What Happens When You Hire Somebody You Shouldn’t
The hiring thought experiment we’d all use for the biggest job on the planet, and why we keep getting the answer wrong.
Listen →Hire for Traits, Not Skills
Why traits, not skills, will decide who leads this century.
Listen →The Greatest Non-Decision Ever Not Made
The most expensive failure of critical thinking in modern business — and the man who built the web and gave it away.
Listen →Is AI Really Going to Kill Us All?
Why the warning about AI is nearly a century old.
Listen →When Does Determination Beat Exhaustion?
Everest, 1953, and the difference between exhaustion and determination.
Listen →Are You Really Listening?
The bigger half of communication, and 10 rules for it.
Listen →The Ethics of Progress
Why ethics, not technology, is the challenge of the century.
Listen →Why Is Everything Either Awesome or Amazing?
What happened to all but two adjectives, and why it matters.
Listen →Prepositions Are Now Okay to End Sentences With
Why the preposition rule had to go, and how English won.
Listen →